


Never Left to Chance

by greeneggs101



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Soriku Week 2020, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27988134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: Day 3 of Soriku Week -"Another Side, Another Story"| Counterpoint |a false memoryA what if scenario - What if Sora and Riku got together long before Riku opened the door? What if the Destiny Islands remained hidden from the heartless for another year? What if Maleficent had that year to continue to take over worlds? And those worlds hearts went dark?What would change? Anything?
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 55





	Never Left to Chance

**Author's Note:**

> I'm kind of playing around with the prompt, with the idea of "another side of the story" and "a false memory" being a false timeline of events. I listened to "another side, another story" while writing this, hoping to capture that kind of slow start leading into desperation. 
> 
> This is an idea that's been playing in my head for a while, and I'm not sure I captured it exactly the way i wanted to, so I may revisit this idea later...

Destiny is never left to chance. Roads may diverge, new paths may open— and occasionally life throws us for a loop. 

But destiny? 

Destiny is _never_ left to chance. It finds a way to happen. 

Always. 

* * *

For example, in another timeline perhaps, the story of Riku and Sora went very differently. Instead of drifting apart due to a confusing ball of feelings, those same feelings drew them closer together. Instead of teasing Sora over assumed feelings for another, Riku confessed instead, his words stuttering, but clear, the paopu in his hand making his intentions known. 

Sora eagerly took the paopu and Riku’s hand, holding both close to his heart. 

“I don’t really know much about love yet,” he had said, taking a bite of the paopu before passing it over to Riku. “But I do know this: I never want to let go of your hand.” 

Riku’s breath caught, his cheeks flushed, before an easy grin overcame his face. One that Sora hadn’t seen since they were small. 

“I promise. I’ll never let go.” 

And thus, no storms came to the island. At least, no storms formed from unnatural means. The door occasionally called to Riku, but then Sora would smile and take his hand, and Riku would forget all about doors and mysterious robed figures, and even that he had ever been jealous if Kairi at all. 

Who needed jealousy when he had Sora to hold his hand?

They took the raft out, but only got as far as the next island before they ran out of food, drinkable water, and even Riku was beginning to feel a little homesick. The ocean didn’t go _anywhere_ and they were only left parched and with three sets of angry parents yelling at them. 

But Riku still held onto Sora’s hand though. So even the fear and worry of their parents didn’t bother him. He had Sora… 

So they returned home and returned to their lives and, though Riku’s heart yearned to explore the outside world never ceased, Sora’s hand in his, his bright smile, and his shy kisses to Riku’s cheek always managed to soothe the ache. 

Over the course of the next year, Sora slowly learned what Riku meant when he said he loved him. And slowly, he grew to understand that he loved Riku too. As more than a friend, he wanted to grow old with Riku. Wanted to see those silver strands become brittle with age and those kind eyes to grow wrinkled but never lose their sincerity. 

“I love you,” Riku whispered to him every night, their hands still clasped tightly together. 

“I love you, too,” Sora whispered back, leaning in to capture Riku’s lips in a kiss. It was nothing like what the older kids talked about. 

It was so much better. 

Sparks flew, and the fluttering in his heart grew stronger when he felt Riku wrap his arms around him, holding so tightly Sora thought their hearts would become one. 

For a moment, everything was _perfect_. 

But again, Destiny is never left to chance. 

It began with whispers. Stories passed along waterman to waterman, then from household to household. Rumors and talks and then frightened pointing at the sky. 

_“Dear heavens, another star has gone out!”_

The watermen had noticed first: stars they had once used to navigate their way home going dark. Their ships becoming lost in the great sea before finally drifting ashore. 

Some ships never came back. 

Constellations that children grew up learning about disappeared overnight. Familiar star paths vanished altogether. Some nights, only a star or two would go out. Other nights there would be reports of more than two dozen disappearing at once. Scientists and the mayor tried to make sense of it. Perhaps more light pollution was only making it seem like the stars were going out. Perhaps the stars had simply shifted in their orbit. 

But the important thing was not to panic. 

So of course, people panicked. 

The people of Destiny Islands began to change. As the stars faded, they became agitated and fearful. They began to lock their doors at night. Began to refuse the company of visitors. Soon the families that were the most agitated. The most afraid— they began to disappear as well. Excuses were made: perhaps they moved to the next island, perhaps they traveled to visit relatives. 

Perhaps they never existed at all. 

Then the younger kids began to run home in fear, saying that something dark was in the bushes on the way home from school. Something evil was on the play island. Something that _whispered_ to them in hisses and groans. Something malevolent and dangerous. 

The play island was declared off-limits. But of course, adults forbidding something only made it more enticing. 

Sora, Riku, and occasionally Kairi would row over to their childhood gathering place. It never seemed dangerous to them, and they never heard the whispers or the dangers. Even the door had stopped calling to Riku, now that his heart was full of Sora’s love. 

“Do you think… would we ever have found another world out there?” Kairi asked, shielding her eyes as she looked out into the glare of the setting sun. Everything didn’t seem so scary in the daylight. 

You couldn’t see stars anyway in the daylight. 

“I think we would have… one day,” Riku said, “Though we would have probably needed more coconuts… and fish.” 

“And water,” Sora pointed out, his head cradled nicely into Riku’s lap. It would be a lovely place to fall asleep. 

“Do you think… on another world,” Kairi spoke quietly and hesitantly, “Do you think their stars are going out too?”

Neither Riku nor Sora answered that. 

The three of them were growing quickly, Riku shooting up like a bamboo shoot in the last year, though Sora and Kairi had made significant gains as well. Sora’s hair was as wild as ever, while Riku and Kairi both grew theirs out. Sora loved Riku’s long hair. Riku always kept it in a ponytail that Sora loved to tear apart whenever they kissed. 

And they kissed a lot. When they were kissing, Sora could forget about the stars. The only stars he could see were the ones behind his eyelids as Riku kissed him breathless. 

“Do you guys want to stay after dark?” Kairi asked, distracting Sora from his thoughts. “I wanna see if another star will go out tonight.” 

Riku looked up to where just a few stars were starting to peek through as the sun set lower on the horizon. “There’s not many left. What do you think is happening to them?” 

Sora hummed turning in Riku’s lap so he didn’t have to face the sky. He didn’t like thinking about the stars going out. Sometimes he had dreams of the same thing happening, except in those dreams, he and Riku were separated because he couldn’t grab Riku’s hand. The stars kept going out one by one until there was nothing left but scattered worlds and scattered people. 

He never managed to find Riku again in his dreams. 

He felt Riku’s hand embrace his and grip tight. Sora squeezed back, lifting his head just enough to send Riku a grateful smile. 

Riku would always be able to read his moods. 

Soon the sun disappeared beyond the horizon leaving behind a veil of inky black sky and just the smallest scattering of pale stars. It pained Sora to see it, and he was unsurprised when Kairi suddenly pointed up. 

“Look! There goes another!” 

They watched as the star blinked once, twice, then went out.

Sora sighed, turned back into Riku’s embrace, and holding tight for a long moment. 

The lazy mood broken, they walked back to their boats, Kairi skipping ahead just a little. 

Sora held Riku’s hand, still feeling a little uneasy. 

Just as he stepped onto the dock, the whole island suddenly shook beneath his feet. He fell back, Riku catching him easily and holding him close. 

“What was that?” Sora asked. “An earthquake?” 

Riku’s eyes were wide, and he glanced back at the secret place. “I don't think so…” 

The island shook again, this time knocking the three of them to their knees. 

After that, everything seemed to happen at once. Kairi yelled out to them, her arm outstretched, but she was whisked away by these… these _things_. These creatures with big yellow eyes. They moved like insects, crawling towards Sora and Riku. In the distance, from what Sora was sure was the secret place, he heard a woman cackling loudly. 

_“So this is where the princess was hiding!”_

There was the sound of a door bursting open as more and more of the creatures appeared. Sora looked around for something, anything to fend them off with, but he wasn’t sure what good even his old wooden sword would do now. Instead, he raised his fists. No way were these things gonna attack Riku!

“Sora, lookout!” 

Suddenly Riku was knocking him aside. Sora landed hard in the sand and quickly turned back. 

“Riku!”

The creature that was gonna attack Sora from behind had instead jumped on Riku. Darkness began to swirl around Riku, looking like it was gonna swallow him up. 

“No!” Sora cried out, reaching for Riku’s outstretched hand. 

“Sora!” Riku stretched further. 

Their hands touched, and from that connection, a light burst forth. It was so bright, nearly blinding. Sora closed his eyes, gripping Riku’s hand tight. 

“Don’t let go!” Sora called out. 

Rikus grip tightened around his own. 

“I won’t. I made a promise… remember?” Riku’s voice was close, and when Sora opened his eyes, he saw that the creatures that had been attacking them were gone. There were still several nearby, but they seemed distracted by the town lights in the distance. 

Above, a storm began to crash down, a storm unlike any that Sora could remember. “Riku… what’s happening?” 

“I think… I think that door was opened. The one in the secret place. I think it was opened from the other side.” 

“Other side?” Sora asked, confused. Riku sure said some weird things sometimes, but this was definitely the weirdest. 

He didn’t have time to contemplate it though as the island suddenly cracked apart beneath their feet. Riku gripped his hand tight, dragging him to a palm tree. Several monsters suddenly attacked them but Riku batted them away easily with a—

Was that a giant key?!

The wind picked up, blowing so hard it uprooted entire palm trees. Their play island, the dock, and the shack— everything was scattered. Riku pulled them to a palm tree to try and hold on, but soon even that was uprooted. They were sucked up, still clinging tight to each other as they were pulled into whatever vortex was destroying their home. 

Later, they would wake up in a strange town, still entangled in each other’s embrace. Later, Riku would learn of his destiny, (and later still, Sora would learn how he tied into it). 

And, later, they, along with a court magician and brave knight would embark on a long-overdue quest to save the worlds, save their lost friend, and hopefully find the king. 

After all, roads may diverge, different choices may be made. Life may throw a loop into the mix. 

But destiny is never, _ever_ , left to chance. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I'm not sure I'll be able to write more for soriku week. This one kinda all came out at once, but we'll see. 
> 
> I hope everyone is enjoying soriku week!


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